Monsanto Company, a multinational agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation focused on sustainability, employs 22,000 people in 66 countries. To assure that the global company can fill open positions effectively and efficiently, 450 human resources (HR) personnel support up to 5,000 hiring managers worldwide.

In North America, the company was using an electronic recruiting system that was available only in English and lacked robust reporting capabilities. In addition, the system could not fully integrate with Monsanto’s operations and accounting platforms. Regional HR staff and hiring managers made do with paper-based applicant records and tracking. The company addressed quality assurance for the hiring process with redundant approval steps and sign-offs, which slowed the process considerably.

Monsanto selected Oracle Taleo Recruiting Cloud Service as the ideal platform to replace its point solution. Designed for global enterprises, Oracle Taleo Recruiting Cloud Service instantly gave Monsanto a central resource for accessing and managing candidate applications by using talent intelligence, helping it to accelerate the search process. Workflows within Oracle Taleo streamlined the vetting and hiring process by eliminating document handoffs, simplifying sign-offs and approvals, and facilitating collaboration among managers and HR staff members involved in the hiring process. In addition, the company seamlessly integrated all reporting functions across HR, operational, and accounting platforms.

Monsanto accelerated background checks and verifications, thanks to seamless integration with third-party service providers and saved millions in search-agency costs. In addition, executive management gained real-time insight into personnel and position status. The extensive global language support available through Oracle Taleo Recruiting Cloud Service assured that staff members in all regions could work in their native tongue.

A word from Monsanto Company

“We went with Oracle Taleo because of its global functionality, multiple languages, great reporting, and analytics. Since implementing Oracle Taleo, we’ve reduced search-agency spending by millions.” – Melanie Moore, Director of Global Operations, Recruiting and Employment Branding, Monsanto Company

Monsanto achieved rapid and measurable benefits with Oracle Taleo Recruiting Cloud Service. Today, every employee worldwide has appropriate access to the system. As important, the company has reduced the hiring process from 31 steps to 12 steps, through automated and streamlined workflows.

Today, hiring managers enter requisition details in less than five minutes. This compares to the legacy, paper-based process that took approximately 20 minutes to enter a requisition, followed by a lengthy review and approval cycle. The company also tracks all approval routings in Oracle Taleo with time/date stamps plus any comments, delivering extended visibility and improving accuracy. In addition, the system automatically sends correspondence for approval to each manager when appropriate. Approvals are sent via e-mail or smartphone for greater convenience. Monsanto has also cut the number of approvals required from 11 to 5 or less.

“We have changed user mindsets from ‘Do we have to do it this way?’ to ‘Are there other things we can do through this approval process?’ ” said Melanie Moore, director of global operations, recruiting and employment branding, Monsanto.

“This system has had such a huge impact and touched so many different parts of our business. What’s been great from my team’s perspective is that somebody can request a report, and we can turn it around within five minutes,” Moore said.

The benefits continue to accrue. Monsanto HR generalists—tasked with employee relations and support, in addition to recruitment—no longer need to outsource nearly as much, yielding millions in cost savings. Monsanto also has a candidate database to jumpstart recruitment and provide a durable asset for the company.

Monsanto continues to extend its capabilities through the Oracle Taleo Knowledge Exchange. By sharing solutions with Oracle Taleo clients in their local region, users quickly accomplish their objectives in the way that works best for them inside the organization with workflows that executive leadership requires.

Solutions

Oracle Product and Services

Provided a central resource for accessing and managing candidate applications, saving significant time in the search process

Saved millions of dollars in talent search costs by having a global database of nearly 400,000 candidates at recruiters’ fingertips

Approved new hires 70% faster and cut the number of approvals needed by 55%

Reduced steps in the hiring process from 31 to 12, accelerating the process and reducing burden on HR and hiring managers

Ensured every region could work in its native language with Oracle Taleo’s extensive global language support

Eliminated document handoffs, simplified sign-offs and approvals, and facilitated collaboration for faster and more standardized hiring processes across the global agricultural product enterprise

Integrated all reporting functions with the company’s operations and accounting platforms with Oracle Taleo

Gained real-time insight into personnel and position status

Why Oracle

Monsanto selected Oracle Taleo as the ideal platform because it is designed for global enterprises, and provides Monsanto with a central resource for accessing and managing candidate applications using talent intelligence.

Implementation Process

Monsanto designed, tested, and launched the solution in six months, on schedule as part of the company’s broader business process improvement initiative.